The two Class C powers rolled the second half of the six-game event on the same pair of lanes.

"We're used to it," said Brad DeLisle, one of two seniors on the Fort Edward team. "It's a good rivalry. They know lane courtesy. They're great bowlers, all of them — Josh (McCart), Ken (Marbot), Kyla (Day) — every year we're facing each other."

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"It's like the enemy that you love," said senior Nikolas Conlon, who led Fort Edward in scoring. "When we're on the lanes, we're battling hard, but once this is over, we're best friends."

Officially it's the second sectional title for the Flying Forts, although they're treating it as their first. Fort Edward was declared 2012 Class C champion after Hoosick Falls was stripped of the title for failing to fill out paperwork on two eighth-graders.

"We've got a rivalry with Hoosick Falls that's lasted for years and years now, and they've always had our number," Fort Edward coach Nelson Chase said. "The only time we were first here at sectionals, it was the year of the disqualification. They clearly had the better team, so we backed into it, but we knew the real deal. This is something else. This is awesome."

Fort Edward started fast and led Hoosick Falls by 89 pins after the first game and 156 after two. The Panthers managed to trim 93 pins off their 202-pin deficit in the sixth game, but it wasn't enough.

"To the very end, we were in darned good shape, and I didn't tell the team all day long where we were," Chase said. "The same speech was just keep doing what you've been doing. All day."

Fort Edward was led by seniors Conlon (1,268), and DeLisle (1,177) and sophomore Jacob Krywy (1,215). The Flying Forts are hoping their score of 5,778 will hold up after the Class A (Monday) and B (Tuesday) sectionals are held. The top team from all classes will advance to next month's state tournament.

Conlon and Krywy could be in line to get to Syracuse as part of the state team. The top six individuals from all classes who are not on the team that advances will also go to states.

The last girl to earn a spot on the Section II state boys' team was Jessica DeCrescente of Mechanicville in 1998. Schools that don't have a girls' team can allow their female bowlers to compete on the boys' side.